Written by

Kevin Allen
USA Today

Team USA answered questions about its offense Monday with a five-goal first period outburst to down Slovakia 9-3 and earn a place in the playoff round at the World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia.

Cole Bardreau of Fairport, a sophomore at Cornell University, scored one of the team's goals.

The Americans, who had scored two goals in their two previous games, now have a quarterfinal game Wednesday against a still-to-be determined opponent, although the Czechs seem to be the likely opponent. The USA (2-2) is the No. 3 seed in its pool and will play the No. 2 seed in the other pool. That would be ...